houses are going under. do you want to be on your own? no. people what regulations. you cannot do it on your own. >> quite a few months ago there was an ad put out by the obama campaign featuring a cartoon women enter progress through life. the theme was what would be taken off three romney administration. it was pulled off because republicans lampooned it as a government program that obama was pushing. it seems that we have talked a lot about what the government can do. in your mind, how does obama deal with this idea that most of his solutions tend to be fairly traditional government programs.

how would you get an economy going in a situation where there is a lot of problems? >> can you narrow down that question? >> what does obama offer -- what will he sell on thursday night? businesses are not seeing small business loans necessarily. much of there's too this intimate to the. >> there has been a cut in

payroll taxes. this is the -- the republicans will tell you one thing and we will tell the truth in terms of what he has done with small business. small businesses have been the focus just like the middle class of this administration. >> i just saw a poll before we came on showing obama had an advantage over romney in helping small business. >> i want to pick up on a question that was asked earlier and posted to our panelists. does the president and his acceptance speech need to talk about race somehow? part of the motivation is that he needs to mobilize these folks

that came out for him in 2008 that have stood by him. does he need to give them a reason to come to the polls? what are the risks in talking about race? >> i don't think he should talk about race. nobody will miss that he is the first african-american president when he gives his speech. would hillary clinton need to talk about gender issue is running for president of the united states? >> she would. >> i think barack obama will talk about his record for all americans. the enthusiasm is not apparent among african-american voters. they will be out in full force. the enthusiasm gap is more to the extent among young people and on married voters. --unmarried voters.

i think you'll talk about an agenda to get the entire country moving again and make sure every citizen in the country has a great opportunity and every family can get into the middle class and that will be a stark contrast to the republicans about president obama does not need a speech writing tips from may. ultimately, his message is that we are all in this together. one way to do that is that he will say we are all in this together and that has always been his message. >> we have time for one more question. >> chuck herz, state chair in wyoming or the electorate is largely white, multi generation american, blue-collar, green

color, religious -- we have not done well with the electorate for a long time. they are a big part of the electorate nationwide let alone in wyoming. we should be getting them by rights because we share -- we are concerned about their interests and working for them. we also share a lot of their basic values. we don't seem to be doing terribly well with them. how can we do better? >> the one thing you find in national polling for rural voters -- i think democrats have a great way to talk with them. rural voters are disproportionately seniors. i think the medicare issue will be a big issue to rural voters. rural voters are heavily disproportionately sectarian.

the democrats' record on veterans is clear. it goes back to the cuts the republicans have taken on a veteran issues. we did -- obama did really well, better sense carter who himself was a rural candidate. i think we will be fighting for that vote at the very end here. >> i appreciate my fellow westerners, coming from montana. i don't think we get the message out enough. we were talking about the 16 battleground states and in my state we have a democratic governor. there are many other target states.

i grew up on a ranch and no one on my family had insurance. states like yours and mine, i came from a ranch in montana and went to by the league schools. we had six schools in montana. i went to public schools. there were no private schools in my state. roads - we have an agenda item for rural america. we don't get it out enough. we need to use our voices which are so soft and hard at those states more. i agree with you. >> before we get elizabeth up here, i want to thank the panel very much. >> up next, highlight from last night's democratic convention. julian castro and first lady

michelle obama and later, today's "washington journal." the capital bureau chief of television in raleigh, north carolina will be with us. the university of north carolina political science professor will discuss the north carolina boat. guest is [video clip] is covering journal" the democratic convention this week. >> this is what you are saying about the presidential candidate. >> i am sick about president obama. health care -- my grandson has health care and nobody has a right to take that away from him. >> mitt romney showed us a

trustworthy and compassionate and international knowledgeable businessman he is. >> i hope the american people wake up and choose the right president. i have not made up my mind yet because i hear too many lies coming out of all of them. >> i think president obama has done a good job and kept us safe from terrorists. i will just stick with him. he is trying to get us out of the depression and i think he has done a good job under the circumstances. >> the reelection bid is dependent on performance in the first term and obama has not performed so we will vote for running. --romney. >> this seems to be impossible

to support either of the major candidates. maybe i will go with gary johnson. we need someone who has a rational approach to the whole situation. >> during the republican and democratic conventions, we're asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's studentcam video documentary competition. students will answer the question -- what is the most important issue the president should consider in 2013 - for a chance to win $5,000 and there are $50,000 in total prize is available. the competition is owed to stop -- is open to students from grades 6 test well. go online to studentcam.org for more information. >> the final speaker of last night's convention was michelle obama and she talked about her marriage and president obama. first we will hear from san

antonio tx mayor pulliam -- julien castro. this part of the democratic convention is 50 minutes. >> thank you. my fellow democrats, my fellow americans, my fellow texans -- [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. my fellow democrats, my fellow americans, my fellow texans -- i stand before you tonight as a young american, a proud american, of degeneration born as the cold war receded, shaped by the tragedy of 9/11, and

determined to reelect the man who will make the 21st century another american century, president barack obama. [applause] the unlike the journey that brought me here tonight began many miles from this podium. my brother and grew up with my mother and my grandmother. my grandmother was an orphan. as a young girl, she had to leave for home in mexico and move to san antonio relatives agreed to take her in. she never made it past the fourth grade, she had to drop out and start working to help with family. my grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a baby sitter. barely scraping by but still working hard to give my mother her only child a chance in life so that my mother could get my brother and me an even better one. as my grandmother got older, she begged my mother to give for grandchildren. she prayed to god for just one grandbaby before she died. you can imagine her excitement

when she found out her prayers' would be answered twice over. she was so excited that the day before my brother and i were born, she entered a cookoff and one $300. that is how she paid our hospital bill. by the time when brother and i came along, this incredible woman taught herself to read and write in spanish and english. i can still see her in the room that my brother and i shared with her, reading her novels late into the night. i can still remember her every morning as my brother and i walked out the front door to school making the sign of the cross behind us, saying mae got blasted. -- may god bless you. my grandmother did not live to see as begin our lives in public service but she probably would have thought it extraordinary

that one grandson would be the mayor and the other would be on his way. the good people of san antonio willing, to the united states congress. [applause] my family's story is not special. what is special is the america that makes our story possible. ours is a nation like no other. a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation, no matter who you are or where you come from. the path as always forward -- is always forward. america did not become the land of opportunity by accident. my grandmother generation and generations before saw beyond the horizon of their own lives and their own circumstances. they believe it the opportunity created today would lead to

prosperity tomorrow. that is the country they envisioned and that is the country they helped build. the roads and bridges they built, the schools and universities they created, the rights they fought for and won. these open the doors to a decent job, a secure retirement, the chance for your children to do better than you did. and that is the middle-class, the engine of our economic growth. [applause] with hard work, everybody ought to be able to get there and with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there. and go beyond. the dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to americans. it is a human dream. one that caught -- calls across oceans and borders. the dream is universal. but america makes it possible

and our investment and opportunity makes it a reality. now, in texas, we believe in the rugged individuals -- texas may be the one place where people actually still have a bootstraps. [applause] and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. but we also recognize that there are some things we cannot do alone. we have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow. [applause] and it starts with education. 20 years ago, my brother and i left home for college and then

for law school. in those classrooms, we met some of the brightest folks in the world. but at the end of our days there, i could not help but to think back to my classmates at thomas jefferson high school in san antonio. [applause] they had the same talents, the same brain, the same dreams as the folks we sat with at stanford and harvard. i realize the difference was not one of intelligence or dry. drive - the difference was opportunity. in my city of san antonio, we get that. so we are working to ensure that more four-year olds have access to pre k. [applause] we opened cafe college where students get help for financial aid people work in college preparatory. we know that pre k and student loans are not charity.

[applause] they are a smart investment in a work force that can fill and create the jobs of tomorrow. we are investing in young minds today to be competitive in the global economy tomorrow. and it is paying off. last year, the milken institute ranked san antonio as the nation's top local performing economy. and we are only getting started. opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow. [applause] now, like many of you, i watched last week's republican convention. and they told a few stories of individual success. we all celebrate individual success. but the question is -- how do we multiplied that success?

the answer is president barack obama. [applause] mitt romney does not get it. a few months ago, he visited a university in ohio and a student there a little entrepreneurial advice. started business, he said. but how? borrow money if you have to from their parents, he told them. [laughter] gee, why didn't i think of that? [applause] soem people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents. but that should not determine whether you can pursue your dreams. not in america, not in the 21st century. i cannot think governor romney

meant any harm. i think he is a good guy. he just has no idea how good he has had it. [applause] we know that in our free market economy, some were prosper more than others. " we cannot accept is the idea that some folks will not even get a chance. and the thing is, mitt romney and the republican party are perfectly comfortable with that america. in fact, that is exactly what they are promising us. the romney ryan budget is not cut public education, medicare, transportation and job training, it does not just pummel the middle class. it dismantles it. it dismantles what generations before have built to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class. when it comes to getting the middle-class back to work, mitt romney said "no." when it comes to respecting women's right, mitt romney said

"no." when it comes to letting people love with a love and marry who they want to mary, mitt romney says "no." when it comes to expanding access to good health care, mitt romney says "no." actually, [applause] actually, mitt romney said yes and now he says no. governor romney has undergone an extreme makeover. and it ain't pretty. so here is what we are going to say to mitt romney in november -- no. of all the stories we heard last week in tampa, the one i

find most troubling is this -- if we ought to go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. if we sever the threads that connect us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead. we all understand that freedom is not free. but mitt romney and paul ryan do not understand is that neither is opportunity. we have to invest in it. republicans tell us that this is the most prosperous among us do better, somehow the rest of us will too. folks, we have heard that before. first they called the trickle- down. then they called it supply- sider. now it is romney ryan or is it my and romney. either way, there theory has been tested, it failed, our economy failed, the middle- class paid the price, mitt

romney just as i get it. -- just does not get it. [applause] but barack obama gets it. [applause] he understands that when we invest in people, we are investing in our shared prosperity. when we neglect that responsibility, risk our promise as a nation. a few years ago, families that have never asked for anything found themselves at risk of losing everything. and the dream my grandmother helped that work would be rewarded, that the middle class would be there if not for her than for her children, that dream was being crushed. but then president obama took office and he took action. when detroit was in trouble, president obama saved the auto industry and saved a million jobs. [applause]

seven presidents before him, republicans and democrats, tried to expand health care all-american. president obama got it done. [applause] he made a historic investment to expand progress so that more young people can afford college -- pell grants so that more young people can afford college. the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants. [applause] now it is time for congress to enshrine in law the right to pursue their dreams in the only place they have ever called home -- america. [applause]

four years ago, america stood on the brink of a depression. despite incredible odds, a united republican opposition, our president took action and now we have seen a 4.5 million new jobs. he knows better than anyone that there is more hard work to do. but we are making progress. and now, we need to make a choice. it is a choice between a country where the middle class pays more said that millionaires can payless for a country where everybody pays their fair share so we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future? [applause] it is a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our school and guts pell grants or a nation that invest more in educating? it is a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship american jobs overseas or a leader who bring jobs back home.

[applause] this is the choice before us. to my generation and for all the generations to come, our choice is clear -- our choice is a man who is always chosen us. a man who already is our president, barack obama. [applause] crowd: four more years! the american dream is not a sprint. or even a marathon. but a relay. our families did not always crossed the finish lines in the

span of one generation, but each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. my grandmother never owned a house. she cleaned other people's houses and so she could afford to rent her own. but she saw her doctor become the first in our family to graduate from college. and my mother fought hard for civil-rights so that instead of a mop, i could hold this microphone. [applause] and while she may be proud of me tonight, i have to tell you -- mom, i am even more proud of you. [applause] today, my beautiful wife and i

are the proud parents of its three-year old little girl, carina. victoria,named after my grandmother. a couple of days ago, it was our first day wasprek. as a doctor off, we walked out of the classroom -- as we dropped her off, we walked out of the classroom and i whispered to her as was once whispered to me -- may god bless you. [applause] she is still young and her dreams are far off yet. but i hope she will reach them. [laughter] as a dad, i am going to do my part and i know she will do hers.

but our responsibility as a nation is to come together and do our part as one community, one united states of america, to ensure opportunity for all of our children. the days we live in are not easy ones but we have seen days like this before. an america prevailed. with the wisdom of our founders and values of our family, america prevailed. but in the we did with each generation going forward, america prevailed. with the opportunity bill today for a shared prosperity tomorrow, america will prevail. it begins with reelecting barack obama. it begins with you. it begins now. may god bless you. and they got last the united states of america. -- may god bless you and may god bless the united states of america. thank you. [applause]

>> please welcome elaine bry from winona, ohio. >> what they mom like me doing in a place like this? i'm not a political person but i am a military mom. [applause] my husband and i are so proud of our five kids. 1 each are in the army, navy, the air force, and the marines. [applause] our youngest is still in high school and yes, we are hoping he will join the coast guard. [laughter]

they are moms most precious treasures. i don't know when i will get them together again because one of them is always deploying. because of dr. biden and the first lady, our lives are a little bit easier along with president obama, they have made help the military families a top priority. they have brought together the american people including thousands of businesses to become part of a nationwide support network. it is and brigitte it is honor and respect in action. -- it is honor and respect in action and it warns this mother's heart. [applause] last december, i wrote michelle obama a christmas card, just a mom to mom note to thank her for caring for the first lady

not only read my letter, she invited my husband and lied to the white house. [applause] -- it was an amazing and experience. what is even more amazing is knowing that our commander in chief and first lady are thinking about families like mine every single day. [applause] like i said, i am not a political person but i am a mom and that someone is there for my family and families like mine, i will be there for them. [applause] that is why i am so proud to introduce my fellow mom and our first lady, michelle obama. [applause] ♪ [signed, selaed and delivered -

stevie wonder] [applause] [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much. [applause]

thank you. [applause] thank you so much. with your help, let me start -- i want to start by thanking elaine - thank you so much. we are so grateful for your families service and sacrifice and we will always have your back. [applause] over the past few years as first lady, i have had the extraordinary privilege of travelling across this country. >> the beautiful thing about being first lady is that i have the privilege of meeting folks from different backgrounds and hearing what is going on in their lives.

i have seen the incredible want the people have shown me and my family, especially our girls. i have seen it in teachers and a near bankrupt school district to vowed to teach without pay. i have seen it in people who become heroes at a moment's notice diving into harm's way to save others, flying across the country to put out a fire, driving four hours to bail out a flooded town. and i have seen it in our men and women in uniform and their probe military families. [applause] in wounded warriors who tell me they are not just going to walk again, they will run and they will run marathons. [applause] in the young man blinded by a bomb in afghanistan who said simply -- i would give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what i have done and what i can still do.

every day, the people i meet inspire me. every day, they make me proud, every day they remind me of how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth. serving as your first lady is an honor and privilege. we first came together four years ago, i still had some concerns about the jury we have begun. i believe deeply in my husband's vision for this country and i was certain he would make an extraordinary president, like any mother, i was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance. how would they feel being operated from their school. our life was filled with simple

joys. date night was either dinner or a movie because as an exhausted mom, i could not stay awake for both.

serving as their first lady is an honor and privilege -- as your first lady is an honor and privilege. four years ago, i still have some concerns about the journey began. while i believe it if we dig deeply in my husband's vision for this country and i were certain he would make an extraordinary president, like any mother, i was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance. how would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight? how would they feel being uprooted from their school, their friends and the only home they had ever known? our life before moving to washington was filled with simple joys. saturdays at soccer games, sundays at grandma's house and a date night for barack and me with either dinner or a movie because as an exhausted mom, i cannot stay awake for both. and the truth is, i loved the life we had built for our growth. and i deeply love the man i built that life with and i did not want that to change if he became president. [applause] i loved barack just the way he was.

even back then, the barack was a senator and presidential candidate, to me, he was still the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, i could actually see the pavement going by in a hole in the passenger side door. he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he found in a dumpster. [applause] and his only pair of decent shoes was half a size too small. i found in him a kindred spirit. we were both raised by families that did not have much in the way of money or pri -- material possession but who had given us something far more valuable. their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves. my father was a pump operator at the city water plant and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and my brother and i were young. even as a kid, i knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain. i knew there were plenty of warnings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed -- mornings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed. but i watched him went up with a smile, to grab his walker, prop himself against the sink and slowly shave and but in his uniform. when he returned home after a long day's work, my brother and i would stand at the stairs of our apartment, patiently waiting to greet him, watching as he reached down to lift one leg and then the other to slowly climb his way into our arms. despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work. he and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream of. [applause] and when my brother and i finally made it to college, nearly all our tuition came from student loans and grants. but my dad still have to pay a tiny portion of that tuition

himself. and every semester, he was determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he fell short. he was so proud to be sending his kids to college and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late. for my dad, that is what it meant to be a man. [applause] like so many of us -- that was the measure of his success in life. being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his family. and as i got to know barack, i realize that even though he had grown up all the way across the country, he had been brought up just like me. barack was waived -- raised by a single mom who rate -- struggle to pay bills and by grandparents to step in when she needed help. she moved quickly up the ranks

at a community bank like so many women, she had a glass ceiling. and for years, men no more qualified than she was, men she actually trained, were promoted up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money bob barack's -- while barack's family continue to scarpe by. but after day, she a rival network before anyone else, giving her best out complaint or regret. she would often tell barack so long as you kids do well, that is all that really matters. like so many american families, our families were not asking for much. they did not be tried to anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did. they admired it. this simply believed in that fundamental american promise --

they simply believe in that fundamental american promise. [applause] if you work hard and do what you are supposed to do, you should be able to build a decent life yourself and an even better life for your kids and grandkids. that is how they raised us. [applause] that is what we learn from their example. we learned about the dignity and decency. that's how hard you work matters more than how much you make. that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself. [applause] we learned about honesty and integrity. that the two matters. -- that the truth matters. that you do not take shortcuts are played by your own set of rules. [applause] at success the blackout unless you earn it fair and square. we learned about gratitude and humility.

that summon people had a hand in our success from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean. [applause] we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect. those are the values that barack and i and to many of you are trying to pass on to our own children. that is who we are. standing before you four years ago, i knew that i did not want any of that to change if barack became president. today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways i never could have imagined, and i have seen firsthand that being president does not change who you are. it reveals the you are. -- who you are.

[applause] i have gotten to see up close and personal what being president really looks like. and i had seen how the issues that come across the president's desk are always the hard ones. the problems were no amount of data are members will get you to the right answer. the judgment calls where the stakes are so high and there is no margin for error. and as president, you are going to get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people, but at the end of the day when it comes time to make that decision as president, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and the life experiences that make you who you are. [applause] so when it comes to rebuilding our economy, barack is thinking

about folks like my dad and his grandmother. he is thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work. that is why he signed the better fair pay act to help women get equal pay for work. [applause] that is why he cut taxes for working families at small businesses and fought to get the of the industry back on its feet. [applause] that is how he brought our economy and the brink of collapse to creating jobs again. jobs you can raise a family on, good jobs. right here in the united states of america. [applause] when it comes to the health of our families, barack refused to listen to those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day. another president. he did not care whether it was the easy thing to do

politically. that is not how he was raised. he cared that it was the right thing to do. [applause] he did it because he believed that here in america, our grandparents should be able to afford their medicine. our kids should be able to see a doctor when they are sick. and no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or illness. [applause] and he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care. [applause] that is what my husband stands for. when it comes to giving our kids reeducation they deserve, barack knows that like me and so

many of you, he never could have attended college without financial aid. and believe it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly student loan bill was actually higher than our market. -- mortgage. we were so young, so in love, and so in debt. [laughter] and that is why barack has fought so hard to increase to 80 -- student aid to keep interest rates down because he wants every young person to attend college without a mountain of debt. [applause] in the end for barack, these issues are not political. they are personal. because barack knows what it means when a family struggles. he knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids. barack knows the american dream because he has lived it.

and he wants everyone in this country, everyone to have the same opportunity no matter who we are or where we are from or what we look like or who we love. [applause] and he believes that when you work hard and done well and walk through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. no, you reach back and you give other folks the same chances that help you succeed. [applause] so when people ask me whether

being in the white house has changed my husband, i can honestly say that when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all those years ago. [applause] he is the same man who started his career by turning down high-paying jobs and instead of working and struggling -- in struggling neighborhoods where steel plant shutdown, fighting to rebuild communities and get folks back to work. because for barack, success is not about how much money you make. it is about the different to people's lives. [applause] he is the same man when our

girls were first born with anxiously checked their cribs every few minutes to ensure they were still breathing, proudly showing them off to everyone we knew. you see, that is the man who sit down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night, patiently answering questions about issues in the news, strategizing about middle school french ships -- friendships. [laughter] that is the man i see in this quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk, poring over the letters people have sent him. struggling to pay his bills. -- the letter from the father struggling to pay his bills. from the woman dying of cancer whose insurance company will not cover her care. on the young people with some much promise but so few opportunities. and i see the concern in his eyes.

and i hear the determination in his voice as he tells me you will not believe what these folks are going through. it is not right. we have got to keep working to fix this. we have so much more to do. [applause] i see how those stories -- crowd: four more years! >> i see how those stories, our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams, i see how that is what drives barack obama every single day. and i did not think it was possible. but let me tell you today, i

love my husband even more than i did four years ago. even more than i did 20 years ago when we first met. [applause] let me tell you why -- i love that he has never forgotten how he started. i love that we can trust barack to do what he says he is going to do, even when it is hard, especially when it is hard. i love that for barack, there is no such thing as the us and them. he does not care whether you are a democrat, a republican, or any of the above. he knows that we all love our country. he is always ready to listen to good ideas. he is always looking for the very best. -- in everyone he meets. i love that even in the toughest moments, when they are all sweating it, -- when we are all sweating it, barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and noise.

just like his grandmother, he keeps getting up and moving forward with patience and wisdom. anchorage and grace. -- with courage and grace. [applause] he reminds me that we are playing along came here. -- a long game here. and that change is hard. change is low and never happens all at once but eventually, -- change is slow and it never happens all at once but eventually, we get there. because of men and women who said to themselves, i may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams but maybe my children will. maybe my grandchildren will. so many of us stand here tonight because of their sacrifice. and longing and steadfast love.

time and again, they swallow their fears and doubts and did what was hard. so today, when the challenges we face start to seem overwhelming or even impossible, let us never forget that doing the impossible is the history of this nation. is who we are as americans. it is how this country was built. [applause] and if our parents and grandparents could toil and struggle for us -- if they could raise beams of steel to the sky and send a man to the mon, connect the world with a touch of a button, then surely we can

keep on sacrificing and building for our own kids and grandkids, right? [applause] if so many brave men and women could wear our country's uniform and sacrifice their lives for our most fundamental rights, then surely we can do our part as citizens of this great democracy, to exercise those rights. surely we can get to the polls on election day and make our voices heard. [applause] if farmers and blacks mets could win independence from an empire, if immigrants could leave behind everything they knew for a better life on our shores, if women could be dragged to jail for seeking a vote, if a

generation could defeat a depression and define great as for all time, if young preacher could lift up to the amount and type with his right to dream -- if a preacher could lift up to the mountaintop with his right to dream, then surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great american dream. [applause] because in the end, more than anything else, that is the story of this country, the story of on wavering hope grounded in unyielding struggle. that is what has made my story

and barack's story and so many other american stores possible. let me tell you something, i say all of this tonight not just as first lady, not just as a wife -- you see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still mom-in-chief. [applause] my daughter's are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world. let me tell you today i have none of those worries from four years ago. not about whether barack and i were doing what was best for our girls. because today, i know from experience, that if i truly want to leave a better world for my daughters and for all of our sons and daughters, if we want

to give all of our children a foundation for their dreams and opportunities for the of their promise, if we want to give them that sense of limitless possibility, the belief that here in america there is always something better out there if you are willing to work for it, then we must work like never before [applause] ] we must once again come together and stand together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward, my husband, barack obama. thank you. god bless you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> "washington journal" is next live from charlotte, n.c. and then key news makers are interviewed. our coverage continues at 4:00 this afternoon. at 5:00, live coverage of the convention in charlotte. tonight, we will hear from massachusetts senate candidate elizabeth warren and then presidential nominating speech by former president clinton and the roll call of the state. co